The Orange Sun
by Fullelven
Summary: Pretty much, this is what LoZ:OoT would have been like had Link and my FOC would have grown up together. Follow a tale of friendship, growing up, heart break and heroism Will their destinies be entwined or is it fate that they walk separate lines.


**Title: The Orange Sun**

**Author: RenoxRayne**

**Summary: Pretty much, this is what LoZ:OoT would have been like had Link and my FOC would have grown up together. Follow a tale of friendship, growing up, heart break and heroism Will their destinies be entwined or is it fate that they walk separate lines.**

**Disclaimer: I own only my female original character Kei. Link is property of Nintendo and so is the basis of this story. The first chapter lyrics are property of Gackt Camui.**

_I whose existence cannot be forgiven  
You who gives me forgiveness  
The moon gives out light  
When he's no longer around  
The kind night embraces your shoulders  
When the rain doesn't grieve  
Tears flow  
Instead of me...  
Right now  
I still can't let go  
But these feelings will always  
Bind me to you  
The fourteenth moon_

_-"Noah" by Gackt_

A fine crystalline mist gently blanketed the emerald floor of the Kokiri Forest, a slight dreary haze creeping lazily across the landscape. Though children in form, many of the forest's inhabitants had already awakened and began going on about their daily business. Some cleaned the yards about their tree houses, others had more realistic jobs like tending to the local shop or making sure none bothered the Great Deku Tree.

Strange things had been happening as of late, though few had actually heard whispers of much. The dealings of things outside of their forest haven held little concern for the Kokiri who never left, never aged, never experienced much outside of the same daily routine that they went through right now. A blessing and a curse: it kept them out of trouble while narrowing their perception of the world.

Still, even the few who merely gallivanted and played all day could tell that there was something strange on the air today, something dark hiding within that residual fog that seemed too persistent to let the morning sun burn it away. Unable to put their fingers on it, however, they continued their jovial ways, oblivious to the tiny single fairy that bolted out from the direction of the Great Deku Tree.

Well, _almost_ everyone seemed oblivious.

Despite the wet grass, a scrawny silver-haired girl lay in the center of some of the taller strands, her pale freckled nose scrunched up in confusion of why the clouds always seemed to lay so close to the ground anymore. Sure, they'd find life within them by midday, but mornings were normally so lovely to watch the sky change from pink to blue, it was her sole reason for being up so early.

After all, her best friend wouldn't be waking up for another few hours. _"Lazy boy,"_ she thought to herself with a smirk, grabbing a thick blade of grass from beside her and sandwiching it between her two thumbs. Carefully, she studied it, manipulating it until it was just in the right position before bringing her hands to her mouth and blowing. Acting as a reed, the grass vibrated, letting out a less than thrilling shrill sound that tickled her lips, eliciting a giggle from the ten-year-old.

Before she could reflect on it, a flash of blue bolted past her eyes. She sat up, trying to catch just what it was that she saw as it ran straight into the bars on the fence that kept people from falling from the area that overlooked her friend's house. Stunned, the tiny winged being shook itself to clear it's muddled head before continuing through the hole it had originally missed.

" Hey! Wait!" The girl called, getting up to run toward the fence. The thing—a fairy from what she could tell—paid her no mind and continued on it's rush for Link's House. _"Could he finally be getting a fairy?!" _

Her maroon eyes lit up at the possible idea of her friend finally gaining a fairy companion, as she herself knew that she would never get one. She was different than the other Kokiri kids who resided there, a fact that she'd known all her life. While they stayed small in stature, she was already a good head taller than the lot of them, even Saria who seemed to be the tallest of them all.

Her skin was remarkably more pale than theirs, her face had markings that she couldn't remember getting just around her eyes, and from what she could tell, none of the shared her silver hair. Though she didn't know her true origins, the Great Deku Tree had at least confirmed her suspicions by saying he was her guardian now. Well, if she had someone who cared about her in this forest, then that was good enough for her. No use in knowing the reason if she can't do anything about it.

A tiny blonde boy emerging from the Tree House brought her from her thoughts, and she grinned as she saw the fairy accompanying him. Paying little attention to her own well-being, she turned and jumped down from the platform—though the way she took was definitely not as far as where the fence was—and sprinted toward her friend, waving her hand over her head to get his attention. His blue eyes sparkled with recognition, and he quickly descended the ladder to meet her.

"Link! You got a fairy now! Do you get to keep it?" She gushed, walking around him and trying to examine the creature from all sides. It floated this way and that a bit apprehensively of her, trying to keep from getting grabbed as she looked like the kind of girl to do it.

"I... think so, Kei. Her name is Navi. She's supposed to take me to speak with the Great Deku Tree," he answered, though his voice bordered between anxious and nervous. She leaned close to his face, examining him with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Hmm... you had another one of the dreams didn't you?"

Her friend looked away from her, and she did all she could to try to hold his gaze... to no avail. She 'hmph'ed to herself, bouncing from the balls of her feet to her heels, trying to figure him out. "You should really tell the Great Deku Tree about them, maybe he can help you."

He shook his head. "I don't even know what I'm seeing. How can I tell him about them if I don't know what's going on in them?"

Kei was about to answer, but the fairy of her friend's began to fly in erratic patterns around him, begging attention. "Oh... okay. I-I need to go. Navi said we have to hurry."

She cocked her head at the little floating ball of light, sighing. "You could hear that? I just hear lots of buzzing..." Letting it drop though, she dipped into her pocket and handed him her handmade Rupee pouch. "You're going to need this. There's no way Mido will let you by without a Shield. He already yelled at me yesterday about that and a sword."

"A sword? Where am I going to find a sword? The shop keeper doesn't sell anything sharp besides Deku sticks."

The taller girl signed, looking around them. There was really nowhere to hide one, and they couldn't go into the Lost Woods without getting... well... _lost. _"OH! Remember that little hole up there on the ledge? You're smaller than I am, I bet you that you could crawl through and check there without getting stuck."

He looked at her skeptically. "You really think there's one in there?"

She nodded eagerly, her silver hair bouncing. "Maybe! I mean, no one ever looks there and it seems to be the perfect place to hide treasure!"

Navi swirled and bounced about again, and Link sighed heavily. "I gotta go. I'll tell you how it goes when I get back, alright?"

"Sure thing, Link. Don't let Mido push you around!"

The petite ten-year-old waved off his friend, a smile on his lips. It was going to be nice, to have something important before him like talking to the Great Deku Tree. It wasn't that often that anyone was summoned. In fact, he didn't remember the last time anyone besides Saria or Mido got to talk to him at all.

"_Oh well..."_ He taught to himself as he turned up the patch to the platform._ "At least I'll have something exciting to share with Kei when I get back."_

She watched her best friend walk off... not realizing just what their next meeting would hold for the both of them.

_**- - - - -**_

Link had been gone nearly all day.

In fact, as Kei leaned over the bridge that spread over the gap to an edition of the Lost Woods, she could see her shadow elongated beneath her by the orange sun in the evening sky, making her look nearly four times as tall as she actually was. How could one tree—granted he was a guardian—have so much to say to one boy? Especially if he hadn't seen fit to give him a fairy from day one.

She huffed heavily, stretching before she sat down to let her legs dangle between the openings of rope on the sides of the wooden bridge, letting them swing too and fro. After another moment or so, she softly began to sing to herself, a language she didn't quite understand, but it was a song she'd heard in her dreams many times over her years spent in the forest. It had always seemed like such a sad song, but it was close to her heart and felt very much a part of her. She'd even taught it to Link, though that seemed to have been more work that it was for her to remember it herself.

The bouncing of the boards on the bridge alerted her to someone coming, and she just barely caught sight of Link taking off past her in a hurry. Before she could say a word, a green-haired Kokiri girl stepped out from the shadows, speaking softly. "Oh, you're leaving."

"_Leaving!?"_ Kei thought to herself, looking at Link wide-eyed as he stopped. He turned, not even noticing her as his eyes fell upon Saria. He didn't say a word, having not expected to see her or anyone else for that matter on his way to Hyrule Castle Town. He didn't want to talk to anyone... not after failing the Great Deku Tree.

Saria looked down through one of the cracks in the bridge, a feeling of sadness washing over her. "I knew... that you would leave the forest... someday Link. Because you are different from me and my friends..." She looked up, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "But, that's OK, because we'll be friends forever... won't we?"

Kei turned, watching Link nod and Saria slowly approach him, walking around her as if she wasn't there. "I want you to have this Ocarina. Please take good care of it."

He examined the small instrument, admiring the craftmanship and remembering all the times he'd just sat around and listened to Saria play it while they hung out just outside his house. "When you play my Ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the forest to visit."

"_Is there something going on between them? I thought... we were best friends, Link..."_

Kei stood suddenly, her small hands gripping the side of the bridge so tight that her knuckles got little splotches of red in them from the blood being forced to the surface. "So you're just going to leave Link? You're not even going to tell me, goodbye?"

He blinked, looking slightly pale even for him. The dirt and scrapes from whatever had happened to him that day were still apparent on his tiny body, and it was apparent to see that perhaps his actions weren't of his own accord. "I have to go, Kei."

"But... why?! No one who leaves the forest ever returns! You don't have the protection of the Great Deku Tree out there!" She argued, frustrated with the cryptic behavior of her friend.

"You don't have it in there anymore either! He's... dead!"

Her eyes widened further as she let go of the rope, her hand dropping to her side. "W-what? H-he's... _dead_?Did you... _kill him_?"

"No! No, I... I...." He stumbled over his words, looking to Saria for help but finding her already gone. "I have to go."

Taking a couple steps backward, he turned and ran away from his childhood best friend, away from the forest, and away from his old life. Destiny awaited him just on the other side of Hyrule field, he had a feeling of that. But just what it had int store for him was what he worried about.

And what if he never saw his friend again?

Kei didn't stay long after watching he disappeared further than she had felt comfortable following. He was going to die! And he didn't even pretend like he cared at all! _"You... have to come back to me Link. I don't think I can live here... without a friend."_


End file.
